A fire has broken out at a popular hotel in the North Korean capital Pyongyang which is usually frequented by foreigners.

Some sections of the twin-towered Koryo Hotel located in central Pyongyang caught fire, multiple reports have confirmed.

Information regarding the extent of damage or fatalities remains unclear.

A witness, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters that some of the upper floors of the 43-storey hotel were engulfed in thick black smoke.

Koryo Hotel, one of the best-known hotels in the North Korean capital, is a 143-metre building situated near the busy Pyongyang train station. It was opened in 1985 and is often the usual choice of foreign delegates visiting the isolated nation.

None of North Korea's state-run mouthpieces has reported the blaze.

South Korea's unification ministry spokesperson Lim Byeong-cheol told a regular media briefing: "We read media reports, but the government does not have any information."